Costa Rica president Rodrigo Chaves extended his support to Guatemala president-elect Bernardo Arevalo on Wednesday, as the latter continued to struggle with legal challenges before taking over the office on Jan. 14.
"Costa Rica recognizes President Bernardo Arevalo as the person democratically elected by the Guatemalan people," Chaves said, AP News reported. "The Costa Rican government views the actions of the Guatemalan Attorney General's Office with enormous concern and condemns them."
"They are against that country's democracy, the rule of law, the separation of powers and the peaceful presidential transition."
Arevalo, who was in Costa Rica's capital city of San Jose, for a welcoming ceremony, invited Chaves to his swearing in, scheduled for Jan. 14.
Following the meeting, Arevalo took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and shared a series of photos featuring both presidents hugging and posing together.
"We are about to begin a new stage in relations between two peoples with an unwavering democratic conviction. I met with President Rodrigo Chaves, with whom I talked about the steps to follow to strengthen the relationship between Guatemala and Costa Rica," the president-elect wrote in Spanish (translated by Google) alongside the photos.
Estamos por comenzar una nueva etapa en las relaciones entre dos pueblos con una inquebrantable convicción democrática.
— Bernardo Arévalo (@BArevalodeLeon) December 13, 2023
Me reuní con el presidente Rodrigo Chaves, con quien conversé sobre los pasos a seguir para fortalecer la relación entre Guatemala y Costa Rica.
🇬🇹🤝🏼🇨🇷 pic.twitter.com/UREArtxPH8
Arevalo also shared a video of him waving at people inside the Costa Rica airport. In the same video, Arevalo can be seen clicking selfies with people and shaking hands before boarding the flight.
"The new government is with you and for you," he captioned the post.
El nuevo gobierno es con ustedes y por ustedes 🇬🇹🫶🏻 pic.twitter.com/YzaROIDOnj
— Bernardo Arévalo (@BArevalodeLeon) December 14, 2023
Guatemala is going through a democratic crisis, as the current administration tries to block Arevalo from taking over the office next month. The elections, held on Oct. 31, resulted in Arevalo's victory by an overwhelming margin.
Earlier this week, in support of the president-elect, the U.S. Department of State imposed visa restrictions on nearly 300 Guatemalan nationals, including 100 political leaders and private sector representatives alongside their families.
Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, mentioned a recent incident where the Public Ministry issued arrest warrants for electoral workers and party representatives, requested to remove the immunity of Arevalo and attempted to annul electoral results.
After the elections, Guatemalans accused Attorney General María Consuelo Porras of trying to disqualify the president-elect's political party to stop him from taking over the office.
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